Abuse of prescription drugs (particularly opioids) is a serious societal problem. Such abuse places an enormous economic burden on society due to increased health care, work place, and criminal justice costs. Attempts have been made to diminish the abuse of opioid solid dosage forms by introducing abuse deterrent features. One approach has been to include in the dosage form an opioid antagonist that is not orally active but will substantially block the analgesic effects of the opioid if one attempts to dissolve the opioid and administer it parenterally. Another approach has been to include gel-forming high molecular weight polymers that make the dosage form difficult to crush and/or pulverize into a powder. These high molecular weight polymers, however, retard the release of the active ingredient from the dosage forms, making them unsuitable for immediate release formulations.
Additionally, having a score (or bisect) on a solid dosage form permits the dosage form to be broken into smaller portions, thus making it possible to evaluate multiple dosing regimens. Incorporating abuse deterrent properties into solid dosage forms (e.g., by increasing the crushing strength), however, may make the dosage forms difficult to break, thereby obviating the functionality of any score. Thus, there is a need for abuse deterrent, immediate release solid dosage forms that are difficult to crush while at the same time have functional scores.